Seasonal parasitism of cereal aphids in a Mediterranean arable crop system

Abstract

We monitored winter cereal Welds in a Mediterranean arable crop system to obtain information about the aphid parasitoid species composition and the aphid-parasitoid interactions through the whole cropping cycle. Nine species of aphid primary parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) were identiWed. The most abundant species were Aphidius rhopalosiphi, Aphidius matricariae, Aphidius ervi and Lysiphlebus testaceipes. The genus Aphelinus sp. (Hym., Aphelinidae) was also identiWed. We determined seasonal host-parasitoid associations over the entire cereal crop cycle. A number of new such associations were recorded, which were previously unknown in Spain and Europe. Our results indicated broad associations of L. testaceipes and A. matricariae with cereal aphids; furthermore, the association of Aphelinus sp. with several cereal aphid species was also substantial. In the NE of the Iberian Peninsula, the cereal aphid parasitoids that we identiWed are able to develop throughout the crop season on one or more host species. Thus, the main aphid species can be parasitized eVectively throughout the entire cereal crop cycle. We discuss the role of cereal aphid parasitoids in the region in the context of our experimental results.

First Report of the Aphid ParasitoidAphidius ErviHaliday (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) from South Africa

“…Several authors reported on the oligophagous nature of A. ervi in laboratory and field studies (Sigsgaard 2000;Lumbierres et al 2007;Starv et al 2007). Of the aphid species parasitized by A. ervi, at least 15 are known to occur in South Africa according to Millar (1990).…”

“…Of the aphid species parasitized by A. ervi, at least 15 are known to occur in South Africa according to Millar (1990). These include the Macrosiphini Acyrthosiphon kondoi Shinji, A. pisum, A. malvae (Mosley), Aulacorthum solani (Kaltenbach), Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov), M. euphorbiae, M. rosae (L.), Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker), Myzus persicae (Sulzer), Sitobion avenae (F.) and S. fragariae (Walker) (Starv 1976;Marsh 1977;Takada 2002;Tomanovi et al 2003;Lumbierres et al 2007;Starv et al 2007;Boivin et al 2012), and the four Aphidini Aphis gossypii Glover, Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), R. padi (L.), and Schizaphis graminum (Rondani) (Marsh 1977;Tomanovi et al 2003;Lumbierres et al 2007;Starv et al 2007).…”

Landscape scale study of diversity and interaction in cereal aphids - parasitoids system (Homoptera; Hymenoptera)

“…Kompletan spisak vrsta parazitoida koji su vezane za žitne vaši na prostoru Evrope obuhvata oko 20 vrsta (Powell, 1982;Tomanović & Brajković, 2001;Sigsgaard, 2002;Starý, 2006;Lumbierres et al, 2007;Starý & Havelka, 2008;Tomanović et al, 2008Tomanović et al, , Žikić et al, 2012. Indentifikacija pojedinih taksona može biti teška ili problematična, pa se u nekim radovima rezultati daju samo na nivou roda, naročito u slučaju roda Aphelinus, a u manjoj meri Praon i Aphidius (Sigsgaard, 2002;Starý, 2006;Lumbierres et al, 2007).…”

“…Indentifikacija pojedinih taksona može biti teška ili problematična, pa se u nekim radovima rezultati daju samo na nivou roda, naročito u slučaju roda Aphelinus, a u manjoj meri Praon i Aphidius (Sigsgaard, 2002;Starý, 2006;Lumbierres et al, 2007). U tabeli 4 je dat uporedni prikaz izabranih radova i vrsta koje se u njima navode.…”

“…Razlike u broju i sastavu vrsta postoje na regionalnom nivou, ali ukupan broj po pojedinim evropskim zemljama uglavnom se kreće oko 8-10. Tako različiti autori navode oko 10 vrsta za prostor Španije (Lumbierres et al, 2007), Češke (Starý, 2006) i Britanije (Powell, 1982; jedna od vrsta navedenih za Britaniju je kasnije sinonimizirana -prema: Kos et al, 2011); Kavallieratos et al (2001) (Kos et al, 2009). U agroekosistemima predstavlja jednu od najznačajnih vrsta u parazitskim spektrima žitnih vašiju.…”